Missed our stories? All the headlines for the week can be found
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Trust fund memo still being debated
A once-private memo about the alleged failings of
the government's effort to reform its trust fund system
was the center of a Congressional hearing this week.
But according to Special Trustee Tom Slonaker, the Department
of Interior official overseeing all trust fund accounts for
both tribes and individuals, the reform project is indeed
working. The plaintiffs in the Individual Indian Money (IIM)
account lawsuit aren't convinced, however, and still want
a federal judge to hold a meeting to discuss reform.
Get the Story:
'Emergency'
trust fund meeting requested (3/21)
Interior: Trust
reform is working (3/22)
No trust fund
settlement just yet (3/22)
Energy, environment, politics at war
If the Bush administration is declaring war on the
environment, they launched a big battle this week
as President George W. Bush and his Cabinet members
moved to strike stricter water, coal, and energy
standards.
And with the energy crisis on the West Coast threatening
to spread, tribes are increasingly being put in the middle
of the debate. The latest potential victim is a
salmon recovery plan affecting the Hoopa Valley and
Yurok tribes in northern California.
A federal judge ruled the Department of Interior
didn't consider the state's power needs when former Secretary
Bruce Babbitt approved the plan last December.
Although it can't be scrapped due to existing law,
the project might be changed to meet the needs of
non-Indians elsewhere in the state.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration is still considering
a controversial plan limiting roads in forest lands.
Officials have until May to decide to keep it or ditch it just
like the arsenic and hard-rock mining rules.
Get the Story:
Bush, Abraham
talk up energy woes (3/20)
California
tribes seek power plants (3/20)
California hit
by power outages (3/20)
GOP makes move
on environmental initiatives (3/21)
Judge rejects
forest plan delay (3/21)
Energy woes
threaten tribal fish recovery (3/22)
Bush still
reviewing forest plan (3/22)
EPA promises
strong arsenic standard (3/23)
more stories
There's still more to read in the recap
of the top stories.
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